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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23590873">not quite destiny</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyteague/pseuds/peachyteague'>peachyteague</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Watchmen (2009)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Internal Monologue, white knight - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:28:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23590873</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyteague/pseuds/peachyteague</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>one shot - no one, not even maura herself, can see the goddess she’s meant to be. but he can</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrian Veidt/Original Female Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>not quite destiny</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this has just been sitting in my writing folder and i came back to it, added like a hundred words and figured i’d post it. i dunno. but hey, now if you want to send in watchmen requests....</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He had known she was young, Adrian just hadn't expected some this. She's drowning in an oversized flannel and he assumed shorts he couldn't see underneath. Blond hair tangled and loose around her shoulders. <em>I'm nothing special</em>. The words suddenly clicking into place and he found himself wishing he had known then what he knew now. Then he might've been able to argue all the points invisible to the naked eye. That while her hair may have seemed simply brown to her, he could pick out every bit of amber, gold, and honey that glimmered in them. Her eyes shimmering hazel of emerald, dark topaz, and steel. She seems smaller like this, one wrong grip able to break her in half. But he knows better.</p><p>“Thank you for this, Adrian,” smiling at him, it didn't used to be crooked, but he'd barely missed the sucker punch, no one else could see, “I would've understood if you said no,” but he can.</p><p>“I could never say no to you,” it's deliberate, she's smart enough to know that but young enough that it toys with her in it's own way, “I must apologize again for the cramped arrangements. I hadn't planned for company,” it's all practiced politeness, it's been his life so long that even in comfort it doesn't quite melt away completely.</p><p>“It's <em>more</em> than enough,” she's comfortable enough to smile, look him dead in the eye, but to tense to relax against the door frame as she so often does, “You continue to be far too kind to me.”</p><p>He shook his head with a light click of his tongue, “Never,” taking a seat at the edge of the bed that would be hers for the foreseeable future, “Would you like to tell me what happened?” patting the blankets beside him softly.</p><p>The bed is massive but she sits exactly where he had gestured, she always takes whatever seat he offers, “My moms boyfriend got out on bail. He said he'd make her choose, so he did, and she,” her nails dig into her knees, not enough to break skin or bruise but it grounds her, “I knew it was coming,” she reminds him of a china doll just before it hits the floor, when she does shatter it will be far more beautiful than he can dream, “No one ever chooses me.”</p><p>He hates the words, that she's said them, that she could even think them. But worst of all she believes them, no matter how hard she's trying to pretend like it's some self deprecating joke to ease the moment, it's not. She hadn't expected her mother to choose her just like she hadn't expected Adrian to let her inside. Or offer her a shower. Or the bed for as long as she needed. He wonders how lonely it must be for her, it's a beast he knows well. His own genius having separated him from the rest of humanity long ago. Hers is a darker creature, with claws and teeth that dig into her skin and never quite let go. No one ever chooses her because she's nothing special, a small, mousy girl everyone called Mary. Except she's none of those things and he's quite sure he's the only one who's realized it.</p><p>“I chose you every time if you remember,” because for a bit there, when everything in her life seemed alright. She had been a super hero, “And I would still choose you,” taking her hand lightly in his own, raking across the pale crescents dented in her skin with his eyes.</p><p>Maura smiles at him, trying so hard to make it convincing, and it would truly be, if he were not him. Gripping his hand back lightly while she tries to pretend she's not shaking. It's a thought she's had, she'd never tell, but her cheeks tint just the bit pink and every few inhales her breath hitches for just an extra second. It must be terrifying for her, to know he sees all of this even as she plays her part so well. She's thought of him and moments like this. Adrian would be lying if he said he hadn't. Night after night spent with her, the way she moved, how much strength was inside inside her and how often it was underestimated. He'd felt something for her then, an itch to explore. It's why when she showed up on his doorstep, sopping wet and covered in mud he'd ushered her to the bathroom with no questions only promises. Now that he's seen her, everything that she is spread bare in unspoken moments, he knows what it is. A feeling he hadn't experienced since his vision quest in the desert all those years ago.</p><p>“It's late, I should let you sleep,” it feels almost like destiny, “If you need anything you just let me know,” patting her hand with his other.</p><p>“I couldn't-”</p><p>“I insist.”</p><p>It isn't destiny, but it's something like it. And that's enough for him.</p>
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